The present invention generally pertains to managing information systems (IS) processes and more particularly to automated processes for specifying IS products, intergrating IS products, installing IS products, configuring IS products and upgrading IS products.
Information systems (IS) is typically a title given to a corporate enterprise""s data processing department. More literally, however, the term refers to the wide variety of tasks and tools used in data processing including the hardware and software products used for data processing, the processes followed to perform the data processing function, customer support and the like.
The implementation and maintenance of an information system is a highly complex process that involves multiple phases, each including multiple procedure steps, and a separation of activities across discrete product (IS hardware and/or software product) boundaries. The phases include planning; initial installation, configuration, and customization; ongoing maintenance; and eventual upgrade or product replacement. Today, practicing each of these phases is a largely manual and labor-intensive process. Within each of these separate phases, the required procedural steps are primarily driven by documentation (i.e., user guides and reference manuals) and accomplished by manual activity (e.g., copying files, editing settings . . . ). In addition, currently, phases of the implementation and subsequent customization of the information system are separate and not interconnected. This separation included ordering, packaging, installation or update, and supporting documentation. This separation meant that there was little or no knowledge within each phase about the results of a prior or related phase, other than that possessed by the person performing the phase. Each phase and its associated product and documentation components were designed to xe2x80x9cstand alonexe2x80x9d and provide general purpose support independent of prior phases or activities.
The current phase implementation is based primarily on product documentation, education and manual activity on the part of the person performing the implementation. The documentation is fixed, in that it is not a dynamic medium, being either hard copy or a soft copy representation of a hard copy book. The documentation is generally designed to address all possible implementation choices and is in no way tailored to the specific implementation performed. The shortcomings have been addressed to some degree with the introduction of programmatic installation xe2x80x9cwizardxe2x80x9d for workstation software. These wizards, however, did not address the totality of information delivery as well as product installation and subsequent customization and maintenance. Some products provided sample customization information, but this information was also generic to apply to all possible implementations and not custom tailored to a specific implementation of an information system.
Furthermore, even with the introduction of software wizards, there has not yet been a solution to address the full range of media involved in the implementation of an information system. The primary focus of installation wizards is typically a relatively simple software setup, including copying files and system registry update. These tasks fall short of the full range of user activities involved in implementing a complex information system. These activities extend well beyond the capability of current wizards and involve a close integration of programmatic actions, documentation, and user activity.
These previous solutions were also focused on individual products. This focus was consistent across planning, ordering, installation, customization, and upgrade. There was little or no inter-product activity and what was provided was primarily addressed through documentation (e.g., prerequisite products or hardware needed to install a product).
In light of the complexity inherent in implementing the various phases required by modern information systems and in absence of sophisticated automation tools, it is clear that what is needed is a set of integrated automated processes to enable a custom IS implementation.
The foregoing shortcomings of the prior art are addressed and further advantageous features provided by the present invention which entails a method and an apparatus for Providing Cross Product Automated User Assistance in the Planning, Configuration, and Management of Information Systems.
An embodiment of the present invention provides an automated cross-product process for creating and updating phases of an IS system.
Finally, a further object of the invention provides an automated cross-product process for creating and updating phases of an IS system wherein cross-product dependencies are included in the product rules and, thus, embodied in the customized procedures.
These and other objects of the invention are provided by interconnected xe2x80x9cUser Assistantsxe2x80x9d (UA). A series of interconnected User Assistants automatically guide IS professionals through the tasks of building and maintaining information systems. These tasks include, but are not limited to: system planning; product ordering; installing and configuring products; and upgrading system configurations. The User Assistants are software programs that:
prompt the customer for information (e.g., present choices to the user);
gather information about the user""s current system by examining system files and other sources of data;
store information about the user in a repository for later retrieval or for access by other assistants;
present customized instructions to the user on actions to take to complete planning, configuration, and management tasks;
perform actions on behalf of the user (e.g., run programs, send e-mail requests, ship order forms)
track the user""s progress through planning, configuration, and management tasks.